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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
Players Mentioned
Pitt Edges Men's Basketball, 65-64
February 1, 2023 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Pittsburgh held North Carolina to 35 percent shooting from the floor and beat the Tar Heels, 65-64, in the Smith Center on Wednesday night.
Nelly Cummings led the Panthers (16-7, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 21 points, hitting 8 of 11 shots overall and 5 of 6 three-pointers. Jamarius Burton added 19 points.
The Panthers have won three in a row in Chapel Hill and five of the last six overall against UNC (15-7, 8-4). The only other opponents to win three in a row in the Smith Center's history are Duke from 1999-2002 and Wake Forest from 2002-04.
Caleb Love led all scorers with 22 points, including 13 in the first half. He hit 8 of 18 shots, including 4 of 11 three-pointers, in his highest point total since scoring 22 against Ohio State on December 17.
Pete Nance scored 13 points, and Armando Bacot finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his 13th double-double this season and the UNC-record 62nd time in his career. The Panthers limited Bacot to 3 of 10 shooting from the floor, and the bulk of the senior's points came from the free throw line (9 for 15).
"I thought they did a really good job with being physical with him early," Carolina head coach Hubert Davis said of the defense on Bacot. "At the beginning of the game, I think Armando was waiting for the double team, and the double team was not coming. One of the things we told him was like just go, just score. It's not coming and if it does come, we've practiced and prepared for that. We will give you outlets. We know how to attack. At the end of the day, they just did a really good job defensively against Armando."
In the second half, Pitt went on a 17-4 run that included three consecutive three-pointers from Cummings and three straight buckets from Burton to take a 57-50 lead with 7:32 remaining. A few minutes later, Carolina went on a 6-0 run to tie it at 61-61 with 3:49 to go, only to let things slip away by scoring just three free throws the rest of the way.
Carolina hit 5 of 27 three-pointers as a team (18.5 percent) and 23 of 66 field goal attempts overall, losing despite holding its seventh consecutive opponent under 70 points.
"The number one thing in regard to our team, the whole year, is the discipline and the details," said Davis. "It is tightening the screws on the little things that allow you to be successful out there on the floor. Staying on script, doing things we have practiced, doing things that we have drilled and stayed on top of at practice and shootaround and consistently doing those things. We were not disciplined enough to win the game. We were not physical enough to win the game."
UNC started slowly, displaying some rust after a full week off since its last outing on January 24 at Syracuse. The Tar Heels shot 30.6 percent in the first half (11 for 36) but trailed by just one at the half due to a 13-4 offensive rebounding edge in the opening 20 minutes.
The Tar Heels will return to action on Saturday night at Duke.
📺 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚊 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛: 𝚁𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜
— UNC Tar Heels (@GoHeels) February 2, 2023
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